[comp.windows.x] Does xterm -t normally work?

root@yale.UUCP (Celray Stalk) (03/28/89)

I've tested this on our IBM RTs and Suns now so it's not a system
specific problem... starting xterm with the -t switch causes xterm to
crash with the following error:

% xterm -t
X Protocol error:  not a valid window ID
  Major opcode of failed request:  61 (X_ClearArea)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  0
  Resource id in failed request:  0x0
  Serial number of failed request:  32
  Current serial number in output stream:  40
%

This sounds somewhat familiar so it might already be fixed, but I've been
keeping up with the patches and don't recalling seeing it. Thanks in advance.


					      --Peter

------------------------------------------    --------------------------------
Peter Baer Galvin       		      (203)432-1254
Senior Systems Programmer, Yale Univ. C.S.    galvin-peter@cs.yale.edu
51 Prospect St, P.O.Box 2158, Yale Station    ucbvax!decvax!yale!galvin-peter
New Haven, Ct   06457			      galvin-peter@yalecs.bitnet

emo@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Eric Ost) (03/29/89)

If you check your .Xdefaults you will find you are specifying a binding
for the xterm ``geometry'' object/resource.  It will probably look something
like:

xterm*geometry:	  80x24+5+5

You will get the same behavior if you were to fire up xterm and then 
select Tek mode from the menu or via the appropriate character control 
sequence.  This bug is inherent in "xterm".  What I think is happening
is because the geometry specification is general, i.e. a very "weak"
binding, xterm will try to open the Tek window with that geometry and
fail for some reason.  I have not tracked the bug down and fixed it yet.
If someone else has done this, please let us all know.

The ``fix'' is to remove the specification of the xterm geometry from your
.Xdefaults file.  Or, else make it more specific.  You probably are using
it to specify the default geometry of the xterm VT window, so use:

xterm*VT*geometry: 80x24+5+5

which will no longer match with the default geometry for the Tek window.
After installing this syntax, you will be able to "xterm -t".

eric

root@yale.UUCP (Celray Stalk) (03/29/89)

Thanks, changing my geometry specification solved the problem.  I'm surprised
I hadn't heard talk of this before...maybe it's the case that TeK mode is
used very seldom.  Time to renew talk of a smaller and less functional 
version of xterm with TeK mode?  It sure would be nice to not have my
swap space filled up with xterm code that I never use.

					      --Peter

------------------------------------------    --------------------------------
Peter Baer Galvin       		      (203)432-1254
Senior Systems Programmer, Yale Univ. C.S.    galvin-peter@cs.yale.edu
51 Prospect St, P.O.Box 2158, Yale Station    ucbvax!decvax!yale!galvin-peter
New Haven, Ct   06457			      galvin-peter@yalecs.bitnet

jonnyg@ROVER.UMD.EDU (Jon Greenblatt) (03/30/89)

> Thanks, changing my geometry specification solved the problem.  I'm surprised
> I hadn't heard talk of this before...maybe it's the case that TeK mode is
> used very seldom.  Time to renew talk of a smaller and less functional
> version of xterm with TeK mode?  It sure would be nice to not have my
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> swap space filled up with xterm code that I never use.
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>                                               --Peter

        I too feel that the amount of swap taken by multiple Xterms is a
crime :-) I do not feel the solution is to make Xterm smaller however.
Xterm should set a hint the first time it's executed stating a Xterm has
been started for that host-display.  All furthur calls to Xterm should cause
the original xterm to pop up a new window and do a select on additional
ttys/ptys.  Following accurances of xterm will parse the command line and
pass information to the server Xterm to set up new windows.  This is not at
all necessary if the operating system supports code sharing but
unfortionatly most don't.  In a true object oriented environment this would
be easy to do.  Since there realy is not a Xterm widget, the problem becomes
more complex.  This leads to another solution which is to add a xterm widget
to a window manager that will allow you to bring up multiple instances of
xterm from a window manager with out loading a new xterm each time.  Any
volunteers?


                                                JonnyG.

burzio@mmlai.UUCP (Tony Burzio) (03/30/89)

In article <55147@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>, root@yale.UUCP (Celray Stalk) writes:
> I hadn't heard talk of this before...maybe it's the case that TeK mode is
> used very seldom.  Time to renew talk of a smaller and less functional 
> version of xterm with TeK mode?  It sure would be nice to not have my
> swap space filled up with xterm code that I never use.

I think TEK mode is seldom used because the TEK model it emulates is
an old vector scope.  If the TEK emulation was something built this
decade by TEK (perhaps a 4125?) then more folks would use it.

*********************************************************************
Tony Burzio               * I think that I shall never see,
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